Naperville Man Who Drove 111 mph For Sex Sentenced
WHEATON (CBS) -- A man from Naperville who told police he was driving at a speed of 111 mph because he was in a hurry to have sex with a girlfriend was convicted and sentenced Thursday in that case.
Zachary P. Ramirez, 21, pleaded guilty in DuPage County Circuit Couirt in Wheaton to charges of reckless driving and possession of 2.5 grams or less of marijuana, according to court records. Companion charges of speeding 40 mph or more over the statutory limit, disobeying a traffic light and disobeying a stop sign were dismissed in exchange for that plea, records indicated.
Judge Jane H. Mitton ordered Ramirez to serve five days in the DuPage County Sheriff's Work Alternative Program, or SWAP. Records showed Mitton also placed Ramirez on 18 months of court supervision.
The Naperville Sun in April broke the story of the arrest of Ramirez, who most recently lived on the 1400 block of Fairway Drive, in the Country Lakes area of Naperville's far northwest side.
A Naperville police patrol officer shortly after 2 a.m. April 21 noted Ramirez's black, 1994 Honda Prelude speeding north on Plainfield-Naperville Road in a section of the Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve, where the speed limit is posted at 45 mph.
The officer activated his radar unit as Ramirez drove north from 87th Street, a police spokesman said in April. The radar unit initially showed the car traveling at 104 mph before locking in a speed of 111 mph, the spokesman said.
Ramirez continued driving north, running a red light at the intersection of 75th Street and Plainfield-Naperville Road in the process. He then ran a stop sign before another officer curbed the Prelude near Oswego and River roads in the Countryside neighborhood.
The officers then approached the car and spoke to Ramirez. "When asked why he was traveling so fast, (Ramirez) replied he was trying to go have sex with a girl he liked," the spokesman said.
Police found 0.2 grams of marijuana during a subsequent search of the Prelude.
DuPage County court records indicated Ramirez had another speed-related brush with the law in March 2010, when Naperville police ticketed him for driving 15 to 20 mph over the limit. He was later fined and placed on supervision in that case, records showed.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
